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book: good omens

For once, I seem to be doing a tag that I was actually tagged for; remarkable, isn’t it? 😉 The tagger in question was Ariana from The Quirky Book Nerd – you should go ahead and read her great post, too!

1) Have you ever damaged a book?

Naturally, I do my best to keep my books in good condition, but accidents are bound to happen once in a while. My first copy of Good Omens got half drowned when I discovered that my backpack wasn’t anywhere near as waterproof as I’d previously thought it to be. And I don’t like to think about the time I had a mishap while bleeding my radiator, and drenched a whole shelf. 😥 (Don’t worry, I was able to salvage them!)

In less watery news, my original copy of Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire ended up completely falling to pieces, as well, though that was mostly from over-reading (and because it was the first massive hardback that I’d ever owned, and I had no idea that they fell apart if you didn’t take care of them. ).

2) Have you ever damaged a borrowed book?

I’m always super-careful with any books that people lend me – more careful than I am with my own books, even – but I will admit to occasionally (very occasionally) having dog-eared a library book or two… 😳 This is supposed to be a confession tag, after all!

3) How long does it take you to read a book?

I can usually finish an average-length book (about 300 pages) in two or three days, but it often depends on my mood, and how busy I am outside of my reading schedule…

4) Books that you haven’t finished?

Even when I’m really not enjoying a book, I prefer to finish it, in hopes of finding some redeeming factor, so there aren’t many books that I’ve DNF’d. Most of these I did actually like, but I just wasn’t in the right mood for them at the time – hopefully I’ll get round to finishing them reasonably soon, though! In order of priority, they are:

There have been a few that disappointed me a bit, but the only one I can think of that I actively disliked was the Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi, and even then I didn’t dislike everything about it. Just, you know, the abysmal plotline, and non-existent world-building. I wrote a series review for it a while ago, which you should definitely check out!

6) Is there a book you wouldn’t tell anyone you were reading?

I sometimes like to read trashy romances, and I’m always a little embarrassed afterwards to discuss them in my wrap-ups, but I don’t think I’d ever actively hide the fact that I was reading one… (Except from the kids I babysit. I will definitely be taking Something Else to read at theirs. )

7) How many books do you own?

I have no idea, but between my physical books and my kindle books, probably somewhere between 300 and 500…

8) Are you a fast reader or a slow reader?

Pretty fast, I think, though nowhere near speed-reading standards. I usually get through two or three books in a week (depending on my mood, and the length of the book), but there’ve been times when I’ve finished a new book almost every day. (When I was in China, I read like a woman possessed. 😳 )

9) Do you like to buddy read?

Now and then. I’ve done a few readalongs with my friend Chloë (a.k.a. SSJTimeLord), and it’s fun to talk about the books as we’re going along, but unfortunately we don’t always have the time…

10) Do you read better in your head or out loud?

In my head, definitely. I can even do character voices! (But just in my imagination.)

11) If you were only allowed to own one book, what would it be and why?

Why do you torment me with such questions, Tag?!?! 😦 Probably my battered old copy of Street Magic by Tamora Pierce, because it’s my favourite book. Or else one of the Folio Society editions that my dad’s given me over the years (The Secret Garden has an inscription in it that I’m rather fond of)…

A friend of mine recently not-so-recently asked me to recommend a pick-me-up book, since she was feeling a little down about life, the universe and everything, and, after a little thought, I was able to rattle off a whole bunch of suggestions – then she specified that she didn’t want to read any fantasy, which stumped me a little (Doesn’t everyone want to read fantasy? All the time? Okay, so that might just be me. 😛 ). But I eventually managed to come up with a couple of what I thought were good suggestions.

But since I’d already done all that thinking about it, I thought I might as well share some of my suggestions with you guys, since – let’s face it – everyone has off days/weeks/months/years now and then. So, without further ado, here are some books that make the world suck a little bit less!

1) Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. A hilarious parody of late eighteenth / early nineteenth century agricultural novels (e.g. books by D.H. Lawrence or Thomas Hardy), in which Flora Poste becomes an orphan at the age of nineteen, and, in order to support herself, descends on her distant relatives in order to begin a career in parasitism. 😉

2) Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. Simon Snow, a mage, returns to Watford School of Magicks for his last year of education, and in hopes of saving the world – and manages to fall in love along the way. Especially recommended to anyone who likes to read or write fanfiction, because of its connection to Fangirl (which is also a great pick-me-up read, but if I let myself put multiple books by the same author on these lists, then this one would basically just be a Rainbow Rowell bibliography… 😳 ).

3) Backward Compatible by Sarah Daltry & Pete Clark. A love story between two gamers, who meet when they end up in competition for the last copy (at the midnight launch) of a game that they both want. Very cute and fluffy. This book (and, again, Fangirl) was my antidote to The Fault in Our Stars, which should tell you quite a bit about how happy it made me. 😀

4) Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman. For those whose tastes run slightly darker, here’s a comedy about the apocalypse, which mainly follows Aziraphale the angel and Crowley the demon, neither of whom are particularly dedicated to their jobs; and Adam, the Antichrist (who has a pet hellhound called Dog). In my personal opinion, Good Omens is the best thing that either author have ever written (that I’ve read).

5) Bunny Drop by Yumi Unita. Last but by no means least is an adorable manga about a man who takes in his grandfather’s illegitimate six-year-old daughter, and how the two of them come together as a family. I’ve only read the first two volumes of this series, but I already love it! XD And Rin (the aforementioned six-year-old) is quite possibly the cutest kid I’ve ever come across in literature.